Are things that bad? If you have 10 minutes to spare and are in the mood for reading, read the Guardian article:
Will California become America’s first failed state?
… California is like a patient on life support. At the start of summer the state government was so deeply in debt that it began to issue IOUs instead of wages. Its unemployment rate has soared to more than 12%, the highest figure in 70 years. Desperate to pay off a crippling budget deficit, California is slashing spending in education and healthcare, laying off vast numbers of workers and forcing others to take unpaid leave. In a state made up of sprawling suburbs the collapse of the housing bubble has impoverished millions and kicked tens of thousands of families out of their homes. Its political system is locked in paralysis and the two-term rule of former movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger is seen as a disaster – his approval ratings having sunk to levels that would make George W Bush blush. The crisis is so deep that Professor Kenneth Starr, who has written an acclaimed history of the state, recently declared: “California is on the verge of becoming the first failed state in America.”
… California is currently cutting healthcare, slashing the “Healthy Families” programme that helped an estimated one million of its poorest children. Los Angeles now has a poverty rate of 20%. Other cities across the state, such as Fresno and Modesto, have jobless rates that rival Detroit’s. In order to pass its state budget, California’s government has had to agree to a deal that cuts billions of dollars from education and sacks 60,000 state employees. Some teachers have launched a hunger strike in protest. California’s education system has become so poor so quickly that it is now effectively failing its future workforce. The percentage of 19-year-olds at college in the state dropped from 43% to 30% between 1996 and 2004, one of the highest falls ever recorded for any developed world economy. California’s schools are ranked 47th out of 50 in the nation. Its government-issued bonds have been ranked just above “junk”.
It has this chilling effect for me.
Reading this article almost made me cry. It is so sad what has happened to our state. I am one of those state workers who is being forced to take unpaid leave. At first, I was livid! Now I understand that we all need to do our part and just pray that California recovers before there are too many more casualties. I feel very blessed that I do still have my job and pray that I’m able to keep it. I pray that everyone who has lost their job and/or home in these hard times find the strength to carry on and know that one day, we will all be ok again.
I hope you are well Randi. This has got to be the hardest period for California and may the people and leaders have the strength to go through such harsh periods.